Saeed Bahmani

Professor at Seminary and University

Saeed Bahmani (full name: Saeed Bahmani, born 1 Farvardin 1340 SH / 21 March 1961 CE in Bajgiran, Quchan, Iran) is a contemporary Shiite cleric, Qur'anic researcher, and thinker specializing in the fields of Qur'anic sciences and teachings, exegetical methodology, governmental jurisprudence, and Qur'anic civilizational studies. He is a faculty member of the Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy and the head of the Qur'anic Sciences Department at the Center for the Culture and Teachings of the Holy Qur'an (affiliated with the Islamic Propagation Office of the Qom Seminary). He also currently serves as the head of the Office of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom and the Office of Supervision and Evaluation of the Society of Seminary Teachers, a position entrusted to him by a decree from Ayatollah Yazdi. He has also been a member of the National Council for the Development of Qur'anic Culture. Bahmani is the originator of the theory of "Fundamental Concepts of the Qur'an: An Approach to Regenerating the Humanities on the Basis of the Qur'an," which was selected and honored as a special selection in the first round of the Sadr World Prize (the Shahid Sadr section). He has also proposed the theory of "Civilizational Reading of the Qur'an," and believes that population, territory, and identity are the constitutive elements of civilization, and that identity is the distinguishing element of civilizations. Among his other views is the emphasis on the methodology of thematic exegesis as the most conducive approach for attaining the Qur'anic sciences, and the method of Shahid Sadr as a comprehensiveness of all past and future exegeses. Among his prominent works are: The Logic of the Qur'an's Response (in press), Qur'an-Based Theorizing, Encyclopedia of Iranian Qur'anic Researchers (selected at the 17th Book of the Year of the Seminary Research Award in 1390 SH / 2011–2012 CE), An Examination and Analysis of the Theorizing Method of Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Scholarly Dialogue with Qur'anic Researchers, and numerous articles in scholarly-research journals. He also has Sadr's Exegetical Thought in publication by the Specialized Sadr Research Institute. He emphasizes the dynamism of religious thought through ijtihad, methodology in Qur'anic studies, Qur'an-based theorizing, and critical re-reading of civilizational issues, and his works are used in scholarly and seminary circles.